[EN IMAGES] Here are some Christmas ornaments that will immerse you in nostalgia

Christmas celebrations evoke family gatherings, the dishes we cook to receive relatives, the gifts we wrap or unwrap and the house we decorate. Year after year, as we open the boxes of ornaments, memories of our childhood rise to the surface, bringing forth powerful emotions and sweet nostalgia. Let’s revive this magic by rediscovering some favorite Christmas decorations of yesteryear!

My Christmas Tree

The information is now well known: the idea of ​​decorating a tree for the Holidays comes from Germany and became popular in all Western countries from the 1850s. It is most often a fir or another conifer, as long as it has evergreen foliage in the form of beautiful green needles! Initially, we used natural trees, carefully chosen from the forest. Depending on the space it is intended to occupy, we select a more compact subject or, on the contrary, one with majestic branches. Cut down in December, the tree is usually kept until Twelfth Day, January 6.

It was after the Second World War that artificial trees became widespread in homes. Their practical side – fewer thorns to pick up from the ground, in particular! – ensures great success for these plastic fir, spruce or pine trees. There are also metallic looking ones: the Aluminum Specialty Company, based in Wisconsin, manufactured more than a million aluminum trees between 1959 and 1969, some of which were sold by mail order as far as Quebec! Monochrome artificial trees would then appear in the 1970s.

Hanging ornaments

The choice of Christmas ornaments has evolved greatly over time. If the first trees featured handmade decorations, such as candies, cookies and paper garlands, the arrival of manufactured ornaments at the beginning of the 20^e century will mark a turning point in the “art” of decorating the house for the Holidays. The supply increased tenfold in the following decades, as evidenced by mail order catalogs from the 1940s and 1950s!

In the 1960s, bells, figurines and plastic ornaments began to become more widespread, while the 1970s, fond of craftsmanship, saw the rise of interest in small handmade wooden decorations. And the following decade? Well, we happily mix several generations of ornaments in the same Christmas tree, creating an eclectic style that is not without its charm!

We will have to wait until the end of the 20^e century for the Christmas tree to become a design object. This is the period for themed trees, with ornaments of only one or two colors, aimed at harmonizing with the interior decoration.

Let there be light!

We know that in December, the hours of sunlight decrease drastically until the solstice, affecting the mood of many people. To combat darkness and light up homes as Christmas approaches, using candles and small lights is both a concrete strategy and a beautiful symbol!

But the use of candles, lanterns and candles is not without danger. Everyone has heard of certain tragic stories of Christmas trees catching fire when in contact with a flame… Which did not prevent some families from installing beautiful colored candles in candle holders and even directly on the fir branches.

With the advent of electricity, artificial light garlands quickly became popular in homes, both in Quebec and elsewhere in the West. The colors are very sought after: shades of red, blue, orange, yellow and green will be popular for a large part of the 1970s and 1980s. These effects of light, however, generate a lot of heat. The arrival of LEDs at the turn of the millennium (and, with this technology, the possibility of changing colors at will) renewed the pleasure of installing lights everywhere, inside and out!

Silver icicles

For many people born before the 1980s, a traditional tree necessarily includes metallic icicles. Appeared on 19^e century, these were first made of silver. However, since silver tends to tarnish, they began to be made from lead, a substance which retains its shine… but which has the “slight disadvantage” of being toxic. What’s more, since you have to place the icicles on the tree a few strands at a time to obtain a nice result, their installation represents a long process. Luckily we only release them once a year! These ice cubes will be used in Quebec homes for almost half a century.

Since the 1990s, ice cubes have been made from PVC or polyvinyl chloride, which are harmless to health. But it must be admitted that they do not have the brilliance of their dangerous predecessors made of lead!

Did you say “angel hair”?

While we’re talking about dangerous ornaments… Do you remember angel hair, that fine white and silky material that created a pretty effect, especially with Christmas lights? By stretching it delicately, we obtained a vaporous mass producing an almost ethereal effect.

However, until the 1980s, the white angel hair found on the market was made of fiberglass and even, in certain cases, of asbestos… We were then unaware of the dangers linked to the handling of this material with bare hands, both for the skin and for breathing! The author of these lines still remembers very well the itching due to irritation and microcuts which inevitably followed the installation of this decoration in the tree and around the nursery!

Fortunately, nowadays, angel hair is made of flame-retardant plastic fiber and is harmless to human health.

He is born, the divine child

For many Christians, the nativity scene is an essential part of the decor associated with Christmas. Reminiscent of the Nativity, the small building and all its emblematic characters sit under the tree. And if we want to be perfectly consistent, the figurine of little Jesus is only placed there on December 25!

But consistency is not always required. After all, the crèche is often flanked by a village where – a Quebec adaptation requires – sheep and shepherds dressed for the hot climate of Palestine, not forgetting the camel of the Three Wise Men, meet through the snow-covered houses!

An article prepared by Catherine Ferland, historian, for the Rendez-vous d’histoire de Québec. Discover or rediscover the hundred or so conferences on history, heritage and archeology for free on the Rendez-vous d’histoire de Québec YouTube channel. For more information, visit rvhqc.com.